Over the course of the last year, I have done a lot of book selling. I've gone to Comic Cons, outdoor festivals, craft fairs, fundraisers, beekeeping events, book fairs, high schools, and elementary schools, just to name a few. And I've been paying attention to things people say, their thoughts, etc.
Now, I've thought for quite a while that I wanted to do a cover re-design for The Sagittan Chronicles, since I used multiple designers and they don't really look like a series. However, my experiences meeting and talking to actual readers has confirmed my suspicions.
Here are a few things I noted about my original covers:
- People were immediately drawn to the Clock Winked. They liked the eye. But I got a lot of people who like literary fiction, mysteries, and thrillers, and fewer scifi fans (except at Cons, where everyone likes SciFi).
- No one was interested in The Lonely Whelk until I explained the premise.
- No one was interested in The Wounded World until I explained the premise.
- People who profess to hate Scifi would still buy The Clock Winked, because they liked the cover and because they liked the idea of it being in a bookstore. I even had one lady who bought it for her elderly friend, even though I recommended she not, simply because it was set in a bookstore and she liked the cover.
At any rate, none of the books look like scifi (maybe Lonely Whelk a tiny bit, but not really) or YA, and none of them match. So I called up my friend J Zachary Pike, and he said he'd be willing to help out. So this is what we came up with:
The Clock Winked (which I sold out of first) is now available! You can get an updated version on Amazon. The Lonely Whelk will hopefully be up in the next week or two, and The Wounded World not too long after that. In addition, The Clock Winked will be on sale (and by "on sale" I mean FREE) starting on Friday, January 29th, until Wednesday, February 3rd. Then it will jump up to $2.99. Get a copy while you can :)
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